Monday 20 October 2008

International bodies to discuss IP securitisation, leasing issues

Intellectual Property Watch previews this week's meeting of IP and financial stakeholders, representatives from developing and developed countries and nongovernmental organisations in Vienna under the aegis of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). This meeting is intended to finalise a global guide on how to use IP as collateral in commerce. At the core of the discussions is the work of the UNCITRAL Working Group VI (Security Interests) on an intellectual property annex to the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions. Issues that remain unresolved include
"the scope of the rights of a licensor when it comes to intellectual property; how specific property descriptions should be in registries; what happens to the rights of both the licensee and licensor when one or the other cannot pay their debts; and which country’s laws should apply in transactions where intellectual property is involved".
IP Watch also reports that the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) meets in Rome next month to put the finishing touches on a model leasing law. Outstanding issues include that of whether software should be included as an “asset” in proposed model:
"There is concern among some in the IP community that if software is included, or even implied, to be an asset in a leasing law geared toward tangible goods, it could pull other forms of intellectual property that are intangible into a world where they should not be. For example, movies these days look a lot like software, with many DVDs offering extended viewing capabilities through the latest technology".
Source: "Governments, Financial Stakeholders Meet On Policy For IP As Collateral" by Liza Porteus Viana.

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